Two sisters have launched a campaign to name part of a forthcoming technical college after their father.
"I wanted to tell the people about the land and how long it's been in my family and tell them about my father," said Mildred Chapman, whose father, Thomas W. Christian, once owned a dairy farm at the intersection of Dietz and Cloud Springs roads where a Georgia Northwestern Technical College campus will be built.
In addition to running the dairy, Mr. Christian served for 12 years as the county's first sole commissioner. He is credited with improving the roads and helping get Tri-County Hospital -- now Hutcheson Medical Center -- up and running.
When she learned a college would be built on the land, Mrs. Chapman, 94, sent letters to college officials and Catoosa County commissioners, informing them about the family's history at the site. The family previously had sold the land to the county, but it changed hands to Fort Oglethorpe and back to the county when the school zeroed in on the site.
Naming part of the college after Mr. Christian, whether it's a building, street or the whole campus, is a fitting tribute to him, according to his other daughter, Audrey Brown. She said he sacrificed plenty of time and money to get both girls to school.
Both daughters are former teachers and administrators with advanced degrees, and several of Mr. Christian's grandchildren and great-grandchildren also are involved in education.
"He's the reason for our education," Mrs. Brown said. "Education is in our blood."
Catoosa Commissioner Bobby Winters, who represents the district where the college will be built, said he had done some work at Mr. Christian's dairy when he was younger and would support stamping the farmer's name on some part of the campus. He said the college probably would have to make the decision.
Dr. Craig McDaniel, president of Georgia Northwestern Technical College, said naminCcommission.
Naming a building or the entire campus would have to go through a state board or the Legislature, he said.
"It's not anything that I have the ability to do locally," he said.
No decision will be made on naming parts of the campus until after it is completed in 2012, he said.